In the wake of insecurity, insurgency and citizen unrest in the country, the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega has described the performance of Buhari-led administration as disappointing and call for immediate restructuring of the country by the President Buhari before the end of his administration.
In a lengthy interview with Daily Trust, the professor and a one time INEC chairman expressed disappointment in the government of the day and attributed the security challenges, insurgency and all manners of criminality dominating the media landscape recently to poor management in the federal level as well as the state, adding that the high expectations on the government by Nigerians have been dashed, with many people worried about the future of the country.
“Unfortunately, he has disappointed so many people. He still has time to correct things if he has the capacity to do that. But frankly, his government has been very disappointing. Many people wish him well but are worried about the direction the country is taking,” he said.
Jega, a one time vice-chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), went further to state that Buhari administration had been very inept in managing peaceful coexistence in the country.
“Governance has been very poor at the federal level and many of the states, that is why we are seeing challenges everywhere; whether it is insurgency, banditry, armed robbery or other things,” he added.
He said the accumulated misgivings by sections of the citizens led to frustrations, which “find expression in these demands for restructuring.”
According to the professor, Nigerian politicians are very reckless, selfish and the most self-serving in the world.
“We have a lot to do; and the first thing to do is to get it right by securing the mindset of our politicians from selfishness, greed and reckless banditry. Actually, many of them are also bandits, not just those who stand by the roadside with AK 47.
“To steal recklessly from government’s coffers and turn hundreds, if not millions of people into poverty, deny children the opportunity to go to school because they have stolen the money that would have gone into education or was supposed to buy arms and ammunition for the military, to the extent that they can no longer fight banditry, that is banditry itself,” he said.
Jega called on the President to restructure the country before the end of his administration.
The clamour for restructuring is not a new thing as the professor’s call resounds with increasing national calls to revisit Nigeria’s current political structure.
The former INEC chairman, however, said the inability of the present administration to pacify various segments of the country was responsible for the growing insecurity and unrest in the nation.
Jega went further to advise that an agenda should be established between now and 2023 in regards to what would be achieved as a result of the restructuring adding that it is a priority to de-concentrate power and resources from the federal to the state government.